PDF Release?

[broselovestar 25]

Hi,

Not sure if this has been asked before (I looked through the first few pages and couldn't find) but is there any plan for the PDF release of the core book and/or future sourcebook?

I live in a part of the world where shipping cost is ridiculously expensive so this would certainly help.

Thanks!

[sndwurks 1,257]

I would be surprised if there were not plans for a PDF release, but there has been no announcement yet.

This would be the page to watch: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/6/Fantasy-Flight-Games/subcategory/36_28812/Legend-of-the-Five-Rings-5th-Edition

[broselovestar 25]

Thanks I'm keeping an eye on that page too. Hopefully there will be an announcement soon.

[Azrael40 3]

Hope these PDF would be free for ppls that bought Books

 

[ririsu 0]

While, not a guarantee most of the Fantasy Flight RPG Books (outside of Star Wars) are released as PDF in a couple of weeks after their physical counter parts.

[Hida Jitenno 586]

1 hour ago, Azrael40 said:

Hope these PDF would be free for ppls that bought Books

 

Keep dreaming, friend. It's a nice dream.

[llamaman88 430]

Word on the Street is FFG has sent it in and we're just waiting on DTRPG to upload it.

[Donovan Morningfire 10,200]

1 hour ago, Azrael40 said:

Hope these PDF would be free for ppls that bought Books

 

Would be nice, but FFG is one of those gaming companies that doesn't go that route.

If anything, it seems most larger RPG companies require you to pay extra for the PDF.  Green Ronin at least offers a substantial discount if you buy the PDF+book from their online store (book is regular cost, PDF is 5 bucks extra), but most of the time it's a case of "you want the PDF?  Buy it separately at full price!"

To be honest, I was kind of surprised that my hardcopy of the Vampire: Masquerade 5e book came with a code to snag a free copy of the PDF.

That said, I'm waiting on the PDF to see the full rules, given it seems the hard copy has some noticeable/irksome typos, and I'd rather wait until the second printing when hopefully those are fixed.

[AK_Aramis 1,002]

1 hour ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

Would be nice, but FFG is one of those gaming companies that doesn't go that route.

If anything, it seems most larger RPG companies require you to pay extra for the PDF.  Green Ronin at least offers a substantial discount if you buy the PDF+book from their online store (book is regular cost, PDF is 5 bucks extra), but most of the time it's a case of "you want the PDF?  Buy it separately at full price!"

To be honest, I was kind of surprised that my hardcopy of the Vampire: Masquerade 5e book came with a code to snag a free copy of the PDF.

That said, I'm waiting on the PDF to see the full rules, given it seems the hard copy has some noticeable/irksome typos, and I'd rather wait until the second printing when hopefully those are fixed.

Noting that the regular price for PDFs is between 50% and 75% of cover price. FFG tends towards 50%.

[deraforia 169]

5 hours ago, llamaman88 said:

Word on the Street is FFG has sent it in and we're just waiting on DTRPG to upload it.

Do you have a source on that? My DTRPG knowledge is several years out of date, so things may be different now, but it seems unlikely that DriveThru would be holding the process up.

[llamaman88 430]

I read it on the L5R Discord when the same question was asked a few days ago. I trust the source. Unfortunately, I was skimming after the fact and it moves so fast I can't hunt it down. 

Sorry. It's not particularly helpful wether true or not. But what I understood from the conversation was sometimes this happens. It did with genesys. 

[JorArns 372]

I think that was from Max's Twitter but I'm not sure.

[UnitOmega 2,818]

I've seen people on the r/rokugan subreddit quoting emails or other messages from the dev team on the subject to that effect also. 

 

[llamaman88 430]

Thank you, people better at the internet than me ?

[deraforia 169]

21 minutes ago, llamaman88 said:

I read it on the L5R Discord when the same question was asked a few days ago. I trust the source. Unfortunately, I was skimming after the fact and it moves so fast I can't hunt it down. 

Sorry. It's not particularly helpful wether true or not. But what I understood from the conversation was sometimes this happens. It did with genesys. 

Ah. My worry is that this can all end up being one big game of telephone. There are probably many reasons why the PDF isn't available yet, and I certainly don't want to fault anyone in particular. I'm only concerned people may be putting blame somewhere because someone read into something more than was actually ever stated.

Like I said, my knowledge of the inner workings at DriveThru is several years old. My understanding was a major company like FFG, at least at that point in time, had basically full control over publishing their works. It was the smaller publishers whose products would get held up.

11 minutes ago, JorArns said:

I think that was from Max's Twitter but I'm not sure.

I tried looking around but didn't see anything.

1 minute ago, UnitOmega said:

I've seen people on the r/rokugan subreddit quoting emails or other messages from the dev team on the subject to that effect also. 

The thread you link references only Katrina's statement from discord, and the user then goes on to draw a conclusion from that which was never actually stated.

Again, I'm very understanding that there can be many reasons why the PDF could be held up. Could be that FFG is taking a while to put together the bookmarks, or if we're super lucky they're fixing some of the errors that popped up in print, and don't want to put it out until that point. Or could be something else. I'm just looking for clarity about what seems to me to be an unfounded conclusion. It's why I cautioned people on discord the other day not to spam DriveThru with a ton of emails demanding their book.

[TheBoulder 124]

Drivethrurpg has said on their Facebook page that the pdf release relies completely on FFG. If you go to the post for the fiction book, you can see their response. I don't think they have it and are processing it.

Edited October 17, 2018 by TheBoulder

[llamaman88 430]

I'm not "blaming" anyone. Was just sayings I had heard that there is indeed a PDF coming, and that I had heard we were waiting on DTRPG's end. I mean, word on the street was The Phantom Menace was the best Star Wars movie at one time, sometimes the street is wrong

[narukagami 118]

FFG (allegedly) says it's on DTRPG, DTRPG says it's on FFG.

Meanwhile, those of us who can't get a physical book without paying out the nose in shipping fees are left banging our heads on our desks...

[Richardbuxton 7,319]

FFG have, in the past, waited a week or so after physical release to release the PDF. If I had to guess it would be to help sales of the physical, both online and at FLGS’s. FFG also remain notoriously tight lipped about everything until a product is actually ready to sell, still have to wait for the inevitable release to get it though.

[Delahunt444 7]

While I could see this being the case, FFG is already sold out on the core book. So all the copies they could sell are either sold, or already shipped to the FLGS of the world. Of course, that just happened yesterday so they could be getting the PDF together to go up soon now. Or they could hold to their timeline in hopes of FLGS sales.

[broselovestar 25]

1 hour ago, Richardbuxton said:

FFG have, in the past, waited a week or so after physical release to release the PDF. If I had to guess it would be to help sales of the physical, both online and at FLGS’s. FFG also remain notoriously tight lipped about everything until a product is actually ready to sell, still have to wait for the inevitable release to get it though.

Yeah this take seems to be reflective of the process. Thanks, I will just keep an eye out for the release then. Good to know that it's coming

[TheBoulder 124]

On 10/17/2018 at 9:42 AM, Delahunt444 said:

While I could see this being the case, FFG is already sold out on the core book. So all the copies they could sell are either sold, or already shipped to the FLGS of the world. Of course, that just happened yesterday so they could be getting the PDF together to go up soon now. Or they could hold to their timeline in hopes of FLGS sales.

I think they were sold out, but I checked today and you can put it in your cart again.

[AK_Aramis 1,002]

Well, as of 5 min ago, still no non-beta L5R5 on DTRPG - neither BG, CRB, nor GMK.

I'll worry about 11 Nov. I expect the pirates will have reasonable scans by then - at which point, it's in FFG's best interests to have a legit PDF up. (pathfinder & D&D stuff tends to go up on the pirate sites in about 2 weeks. )

[llamaman88 430]

really, really need a pdf to run online games. killing me FFG! take my money!

[Blueberrycat 2]

Signed up just to comment on my own desperation for a pdf! At least give us some news, FFG! Online groups are dyin' here. ;_;